Men's Cross Country defeats No. 34 Lynchburg (Va.), Division I VCU, Radford at U of Virginia Open

By: Tim Glon

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Ohio Northern men's cross country team defeated No. 34-ranked Lynchburg (Va.) and NCAA Division I schools VCU and Radford Friday night at the University of Virginia Open.

The Polar Bears (5-4 overall) finished fourth of seven teams with 110 points, fishing ahead of Virginia Commonwealth (114), Radford (161) and Lynchburg (189).

Georgetown won the meet with 20 points, Virginia was second with 72 and Norfolk State was third with 73.

Ben Ankrom led the Polar Bears with a 26th place finish in 27:04 for 8,000 meters, Mark Berton was 32nd in 27:26 and Dan Smith was 39th in 27:47.

"We ran very well today," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "This was an outstanding showing against mostly Division I competition. We traveled a long way and fought heat and a tough course and represented ourselves very well."

Josef Tessema of Norfolk State won individual honors in 25:00.

The Polar Bear JV squad win run on Saturday at IP-Fort Wayne and the entire squad will compete again Sept. 16 at the Calvin (Mich.) Select Meet.

Team Scores

1. Georgetown 20, Virginia 72, 3. Norfolk State 73, 4. Ohio Northern 110, 5. Virginia Commonwealth 114, 6. Radford 161, 7. #33 Lynchburg (Va.) 189.

Top 5 Individual Results

1. Josef Tessema (NS) 25:00, 2. Alex Lundy (GU) 25:09, 3. Andrew Springer (GU) 25:22, 4. TC Lumbar (GU) 25:22, 5. Omar Kaddurah(GU) 25:38.

Ohio Northern Individual Results

26. Ben Ankrom 27:04, 32. Mark Berton 27:26, 39. Dan Smith 27:47, 41. Nick Swinford 28:00, 42. Kenton Holliday 28:06, 47. Mike Simmons 28:15, 48. Evan McKee 28:21, 53. Matt Bayman 28:52, 64. Jeff Denny 30:17.